Golf clubs have generally been designed with three major components, a head, a shaft, and a grip. Although there are instances where other minor components such as the ferrule may be added to the golf club to improve the cosmetic transition between the head and the shaft, the three major components mentioned above are the most visible elements of a golf club itself.
Because of the need for different manufacturers to promote their product, the various manufacturers will generally try to promote their own product by putting their names on the golf club itself. However, due to the limited space available on a golf club for the placement of such an advertisement, and because of the need for enhanced cosmetic appeal, the various manufacturers have to utilize creative methods to promote their product beyond merely slapping a sticker onto the product itself. More often than not, the various advertising efforts of the manufacturer will seamlessly incorporate their company logo together with the golf club itself in a way that enhances the cosmetic appeal of a golf club.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0072693 by Kallberg illustrates one of these attempts to seamlessly decorate the head of a golf club by disclosing a method that selects a visual display, presents a desired message, and couples the visual display to a top surface of a golf club head. U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,859 to Reardon illustrates an attempt to create a decorative grip of a golf club by disclosing a decorative grip system that includes a decorative grip having a label with decorative indicia located thereon, including an underlay layer located generally inside of the label and a generally translucent overlay layer located outside of the label. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,787 to Unosawa illustrates an attempt to decorate the shaft of a golf club by disclosing an upper ply being transparent or at least having translucency to the extent that the interior surface is visible, and a lower ply having different surface configuration from the upper ply, and the surface configuration of which can be seen through the upper ply provided underneath the upper ply.
Golf club shafts, due to their relatively large surface area, combined with the relatively manageable geometry, are often the prime location for incorporating the decorative marks of a manufacturer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,217 to Johnson illustrates one of the more common ways of decorating the shaft of a golf club head by either printed on the surface of the shaft or can be in the form of an elongated sticker that is wrapped around the shaft. Utilizing a sticker type decorative band around the shaft of a golf club, although greatly enhances the visibility and cosmetic appeal of a golf club shaft, may be undesirable because the stickers can come apart from the golf club shaft itself. These stickers, although originally intended to enhance the cosmetic appeal of the golf club, begin losing their cosmetic appeal when they start peeling and cracking overtime.
In addition to enhancing the cosmetic appeal of a golf club, and due to the limited space and opportunity within the golf club itself for plain cosmetic enhancement, the cosmetic features that are used to improve the visual appeal of a golf club may often need to function to improve the performance of the golf club as well. U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,285 to Thorne et al. discloses a head of a golf club that has a decorative feature that also have a function component by having scorelines and circles that are depressions in the club face that function to decorate the head, assist in club-and-ball alignment, and to engage the golf ball surface to create golf ball spin. U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,141 to Kelly discloses a grip of a golf club that has a decorative feature that is also functional by having a groove pattern that, in addition to being decorative, acts much like the tread patterns of automobile tires, thus increasing the traction between the grip and a golfer's hands.
Hence, as it can be seen from above, attempts to improve the cosmetic appeal of the shaft of a golf club may be significantly flawed in numerous aspects. First and foremost, one of the most common ways of improving the cosmetic appeal of a shaft by utilizing stickers can end up cracking and peeling, causing them to detract from the cosmetic appeal of the golf club. Additionally, despite all the attempts above to incorporate cosmetic features that also improve the functionality to other components of the golf club such as the head and the grip, no relevant attempts have been made to do so with the cosmetic improvements directed at golf club shafts. Ultimately, because of the lack of development, there is a need in the field for a golf club that contains a feature that can improve the cosmetic appeal as well and the functional performance of a golf club shaft.